Montessori Activity: Sandpaper Name

Age: From 3 years old

Activity Duration: 5 - 10 minutes

Objectives:
1. To strengthen the child's feel for letters.
2. To teach tracing of the child's name in a fun way.

Materials:
1. 1 piece of sandpaper
2. 1 piece of coloured or black paper.

Directions:
1. Cut the letters in your child's name out of sandpaper.

2. Get him to follow their forms with his fingers.

Additional Information:
I found this idea from the book "Play & Learn: 1001 Fun Activities for Baby and Child". At 3.5 years old, Joshua might be a little too old for this, but I will try it and see how it goes.

Updates 17.9.2012: I tried it this evening, and Joshua wasn't at all thrilled about it. I will put it aside for now. Joshua has never been quite thrilled with all the "Sandpaper" letters that I had made for him since he was a baby. I have to admit - I am not artistic enough nor have the hand skills to make craft. It is a pain for me to do all those crafts. But the strange thing is that he likes the real Montessori Sandpaper Letters:

I contemplated it a lot, before deciding to put purchase the Sandpaper Letters, which arrived yesterday, as it is very expensive. Also I wondered about Maria Montessori's belief that beautiful objects would attract the children, and all Montessori materials are made of wood to perfection and beauty. I was wrong, and Maria Montessori is right. Ok, that means that Joshua didn't think that my "work-of-art" is attractive enough for him. It is made of cheap cardboard instead of wood. But in anyway, I am glad that Joshua is taking to like to real Sandpaper Letters.

If you are good with hand crafts, don't rush to purchase the real Sandpaper Letters just yet. Your child may like what you have made for him/her, and it will be a lot cheaper. All children are different.